Safe Travel Tips For Young People

Traveling abroad, student travel, safety and road trip planning

It is no secret that when young people vacation with their friends, alcohol consumption is high and partying is the primary past-time. However, with the unfortunate tragedy of Natalee Holloway's death while on vacation in Aruba, it is important for young people to keep safe while traveling. Irresponsible drinking is not the only issue involved with unsafe travel; there are several safe travel tips that need to be kept in mind while vacationing to ensure your safety.

Whether you're traveling abroad to Paris, spending spring break on South Padre Island, Texas or taking a summer road trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, it is important to keep safe and aware of your surroundings at all times. By following just a few, small travel tips and keeping a few things in mind, you can ensure that your vacation goes smoothly and that you have a great time.

Basic safe travel tips:Knowing your limits

Hangovers are not the only thing you need to worry about when partying; binge drinking can lead to black-outs, alcohol poisoning and even worse - death. Most importantly though, alcohol clouds your judgment severely and makes bad situations and decisions look alright. Try to monitor your alcohol consumption and the alcohol consumption of those traveling with you. This leads me to the second rule: the Buddy System.

Buddy System

Remember those afternoon buddy checks at the local swimming pool? The buddy system, it is tried and true and it works. Wherever you go with your friends whether it's the bar, a club, the beach or a party, keep tabs on each other. Try to stay together at all times. Realistically this doesn't always happen and people get separated. If you do get separated or you decide to go your own ways, which is not recommended, try to check in with each other at least every hour or so. Also, plan ahead a meeting place if you cannot locate each other. It is important to remain with your friends or close by them at all times. For guys, if you find yourself in a fight, you have your buddies there to help you out. For gals, if you're receiving unwanted sexual advances, your ladies are there to help you out of an unwanted situation.

Don't take candy from strangers

When young people vacation, they are out mingling, partying and meeting new people. You need be careful of strangers though and shouldn't completely trust anyone. Be careful of what they're offering you; there are a lot of scam artists out there. For women, if a man buys you a drink you need to be aware of the fact that he may try to drug you or if he buys you an excessive amount of drinks that he may be trying to get you drunk and take advantage of you. Not to sound like EVERYBODY is out to get you, but you need to be aware of the possibilities and be wary of trusting people you have just met. Most importantly though, never leave alone with someone you have just met and never give them the number to your hotel room.

Think of the consequences

To take risk of sounding like my mother, you really do need to think of the consequences of your actions. They need to be kept in mind, especially when traveling abroad.

Each year more than 2,500 Americans are arrested abroad and more than one-third of those arrests are drug related and student travel related. Simply because it's legal to smoke marijuana in Amsterdam, doesn't mean that it is legal to take it with you to Germany. When you're traveling abroad it is vital to be completely aware of the rules, custom and laws that are associated with the countries you are visiting. Young people and students are commonly arrested for being intoxicated in public areas and for drunk driving; this is common for not only people traveling abroad, but also for student vacationing in the United States. If you do get in trouble while traveling abroad, contact the local US embassy.

Dress to unimpress

Theft is another common vacation mishap. Leave the bling at home, don't carry excessive amounts of cash and don't bring with you unneeded credit cards. Dressing nicely, wearing a Rolex and flashing your cash screams steal from me. In case items do get stolen, you should make two copies of your passport identification page before leaving. This will help expediate the time spent getting your passport replaced if it is lost or stolen. Leave one copy in your hotel room and the other back home with someone easily contacted.

Road Trip Tips:Plan ahead

Before embarking on your trip, you need to plan ahead, and come up with a travel itinerary that should include what roads you will be traveling on and where you will be staying. The travel itinerary should be given to someone who is not going with on the trip so they can know where you are at all times in case something does go wrong.

Check it out

It only seems logical to have your car tuned up before heading out on the road; however, this is a step that is often overlooked. Before leaving on a road trip take your car to a local car shop and have them check it over, change the oil and have the tire pressure checked. It is also recommended that you have access to AAA or some other emergency roadside service in case something does go wrong.

And last don't pick up hitchhikers. It is not 1960 anymore and it is not safe.Vacations are supposed to be fun and by keeping these few safe travel tips in mind, you can make sure that they remain that way.